How to Restore BKF File in Windows 7, XP, and Later Versions?

Since data loss is an inevitable occurrence, you must take backup regularly to protect your data. A valid backup file ensures that your data is safe in all conditions. At a time of data loss due to any reason, be it accidental deletion or corruption, you can successfully restore files from backup. But it’s only possible if you take backup regularly. In this article, I’m showing you how to restore BKF file in Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Microsoft Backup Tool 

Microsoft provides a freeware backup tool, called NTBackup, in many of its Windows operating systems. It was first introduced in Windows NT and its subsequent versions around 1997. Also, it was included in Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. In Windows Vista and later operating systems, it was replaced by the Windows Backup and Restore tool. So this means there’s no NTBackup tool. The new Windows backup tool uses the VHD (Virtual hard disk) file format. On the other hand, the NTBackup tool uses a proprietary backup format (BKF) to back up files.

Sometimes it may happen that you’ve taken the backup in Windows XP through the NTBackup tool. But now you’re using Windows Vista, 7 or any later version that has no NTBackup tool. You want to restore BKF file which was created earlier by the NTBackup tool. The Windows Backup tool used by your current operating system doesn’t support BKF file format. So the question is “how to restore BKF file”. It’s very simple. You can still use the NTbackup tool in Windows Vista and later operating systems. Though it’s not available, do the following to avail it:

• You can use an old Windows system, i.e. Windows XP or an earlier one. First, go to this location, C:\Windows\System32. Locate the NTBackup folder, copy the files and save them into a new folder. Now you can transfer these files to your computer system through any removable storage device.
• Also, you can download the NTBackup tool from the Internet.

Points to be noted: 

• The executable (.exe) file is enough to run this application, but the DLL files associated with it are also necessary.
• Also, make sure all the files are stored at the same location.

How to Restore BKF File through NTBackup? 

The NTBackup tool doesn’t need any installation. Once you’ve copied or downloaded the files on your system, double-click the executable file to run the NTBackup tool. Right after that, you’ll receive this message.

Click OK. Now follow the steps shown below:

Step 1: The welcome screen appears on your screen.

Click Next to start the process.

Step 2: On the Backup and Restore Wizard, select Restore files and settings in the option.

Click Next to continue the process.

Step 3: Now click the Browse button to select the BKF file from which you want to restore your data.

Step 4: Locate the BKF file on your system.

And then click OK.

Step 5: Expand the file in the tree-structure, and check the file items.

Now you can restore files from backup.

If the NTBackup tool fails then what?

Sometimes you may encounter an error message while restoring your files from the backup. Generally, error messages occur due to corruption. So if you receive an error message reporting any sort of issue, this means the BKF file is likely to be corrupt. Below is one of the most common error messages you may encounter:

If the NTBackup tool fails to restore BKF file, you should better switch to a professional solution. There are many vendors in the market which provide BKF Recovery software. Before you can purchase the software, you must download its free demo version. By using the demo version, you can scan corrupt BKF file and check the preview of your data which you can actually recover from it. It supports BKF files created by the NTBackup tool as well as Backup Exec. This BKF Recovery software smoothly runs under all Windows-based operating systems including the latest Win 10. This means you can successfully restore files from backup in Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10.

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